Tree rings + ipads = history teaching tools

Text books can be tool for learning but book learning can be a little dull.

One East Tennessee teacher has come up with an interesting lesson while making something good out of what was a bad situation.

Almost two years ago, a big tree fell on a church in Knoxville. Members saw a hole in their building but an elementary school teacher saw an opportunity.

"As the tree was lying on the ground I started to count the rings and I though there's probably over 150 rings on here. So as the workers were working I asked if they would bring me a piece over," Talbott Elementary School teacher Phillip Lewis said.

"How can we tell if trees are old?" he asked his class. "By their rings," they responded.

Students use the natural timeline and modern technology to track history.

"You can tell people about it that you have experienced what a tree looks like from the inside," 5th grade student Kaitlyn Williams said.

They research dates on ipads and find out where events happened on google earth, a virtual globe using the fundamentals of geography.

"The Google Earth allows students to step out of the classroom and be able to see the world from above which is very important when you want to learn about the spacial aspects of the earth and spacial critical thinking," Kurt Butefish.